Encounters: Shattered Wastes (2024)

About this game

Encounters: Shattered Wastes is a cooperative board game for 1-4 players. Each player chooses one or more characters (for a total of 2-4 characters being used in a single game) to explore the land of untamed magic known as The Shattered Wastes. Players will fight an enemy in a battle known as an Encounter. Players win an encounter when both sides of an Enemy Card are defeated by reducing the enemy’s Strength and inflicting Wounds. Players and their characters will need to work together to weaken the enemy using their own attacks, which shifts the enemy’s Strength from Stamina to Fatigue. This will Stagger the enemy, giving players the opportunity to inflict Wounds upon it. Enemies will harm characters by using both Strength and Rage cards. Players lose an encounter if all characters have been removed from the Encounter by having their Health Points (HP) reduced to 0 or have fully succumbed to corruption. —description from the designer

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 4. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 2.5/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.